Forum Statistics

Who's Online   4 Members, 1 Anonymous, 9 Guests (See full list)

Who was online  41 Users were Online in the last 24 hours

Recent Blogs

1. 

   Down the Rabbit Hole

   A blog by The History Kid

   • 1
     entry
   • 2
     comments
   • 20
     views

   Recent Entries

   • The Obligatory Tour

   

   Latest Entry
   

   The Obligatory Tour

   As I get more and more into anime, I am sure I'll start lampooning something with anime.  Right now I could go on and on about how tacky I thought Soul Eater's ending was, how gut wrenching Chrono Crusade's ending was, or how I really despite Hetalia despite the fact it's supposed to be a historical concoction.  However, until that time comes - I figured I'd let people get a glimpse of my day-to-day, and my thought process therein.  

   A historian, that is a Federal Historian (read: Golf-Sierra 0-1-7-0) is rarely "just" a historian.  They have functions that reach far beyond that of what you would associate with a historian.  It is not my intent nor duty to tell you about those things.  However, different historians in different commands or agencies get tasked with different responsibilities.  In my case, I fulfill the role as a (as in one of a few) installation historian.  In of itself, as a historian in a senior command on any post, that means you get tasked to give tours to the public and to other agencies on the post.  That's right, one of your tasks is to be a glorified tour guide.

   In my case, that could mean a number of things.  Whether you're running people through the post museum, the officer's living quarters, or packed on a bus and blabbering on about the post as you drive around it, you're going to be talking with hopes that they might get ten percent of what you're saying.  I've found children to be the most difficult audience.  Why?  Short attention spans, poor self-discipline, no respect, and lack of understanding.  Trying to explain force projection or materiel integration to a 9 year old probably makes about as much sense as explaining geography to a flamingo.  The next hardest group is the elderly.  This becomes especially trying when all they want to talk about is how "awful war is."  I get that ma'am, and I agree, but I don't sign the deployment orders - someone else does, and they also sign mine.

   Bus tours can be whirlwinds, and today was no exception - thus the reason I write this pilot entry.  Today we bused around twenty-eight Rosie the Riveter's and their families and talked about the role of women workers during the World Wars.

   Rosie the Riveter became an American icon in 1942, and has remained an icon for female industrial workers ever since.  Originally, "Rosie" was attributed to Women Ordnance Workers or "WOWs."  In 1942, this term applied exclusively to women who were working in U.S. Army depots, but by the time the nation had fully mobilized in the middle of 1942 into the beginning of 1943, this term expanded to include any women in the defense industry.  That included women working in private foundries, factories, and production lines.  As companies such as Ford, Chrysler, and General Motors revamped their production lines to produce more and more war materiel, the number of men leaving their factory jobs for the front lines increased.  The result is that many women had to step in to fill the shoes of the men who were deploying.

   My grandmother and grandfather were examples of ordnance workers in the private sector.  In 1942, my grandmother worked at Indiana Steel Works in Valparaiso, Indiana.  My grandfather was too old to deploy - so he too got a job in manufacturing.  Indiana Steel produced metal slabs for use in aircraft, tanks, and armored cars.  The role of a steel grinder, my grandmother's role, was to grind down smaller and misshapen steel for melting so that it could be molded to a usable shape or form.

   For the tour, the Rosie's were packed on buses, and away we went.  On our installation, WOW's were employed to manufacture belt links, assemble machine guns, rifle M1903 Springfield's (in World War I) and M1 Garand's (in World War II), aid with the transport of materiel, and even load ammunition.  The installation was able to claim many progressive firsts, including the first use of WOW's outside of the office, the first woman to be authorized to drive heavy machinery, and the first installation to hire minority women employees.

   The catch for this tour however: it was to be no more than 15 minutes.  Sadly, when you have as much history and content to discuss as this, such a tour is nearly impossible.  While it was enjoyable to be in their company, I am truly glad to be done with it.  Hopefully they at least got a few bits of information about themselves, or others who had not worked at this site in the past.  Such is the challenge of all tours...

    

   • Read more...
   • 2 comments
2. 

   Ponder Ouroboros

   A blog by Kinbaryu

   • 4
     entries
   • 18
     comments
   • 97
     views

   Recent Entries

   • The Character is LITERALLY Me!
   • My thoughts on Isekai Quartet
   • Anime Communities, and Becoming a Youtuber
   • One Punch Man vs My Hero Academia

   

   Latest Entry
   

   The Character is LITERALLY Me!

   A character HAS to be relatable to be a “good” character, right? That’s what everyone refers to when they’re criticizing something they don’t like. Conversely, when a show features a relatable character, the show is often praised. This is likely why many isekai characters are average japanese men; moreso, these characters may also turn out to be the “otaku” stereotype, such as Natsuki Subaru from Re:Zero.

   Personally, I have much more fun with characters that are only partially relatable. For example, Kazuma from KonoSuba is relatable because of his social incorrectness. Many people would also feel annoyed by Aqua’s condescending nature, but would not banter with her because of her status as a goddess.

   Scenes like this from KonoSuba are funny because Kazuma expresses his relatable emotions in an unrelatable way.

   Personally, my favorite is the “literally me” archetype. I’m not sure if there’s a solid title or description for these types of characters, but I would describe them as anti-social, quiet characters that solve their problems in unconventional ways. Examples of this include (but are not limited to): Hikigaya Hachiman from OreGairu, Ayanokouji Kiyotaka from Classroom of the Elite, Naofumi Iwatani from The Rising of the Shield Hero, Keima Katsuragi from The World God Only Knows, Kobayashi from Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid, Shiroe from Log Horizon, and Araragi Koyomi from Kizumonogatari. I have also been told that Sakuta Azusagawa from Bunny Girl Senpai and Hotaro Oreki from Hyouka fall in the same vein.

   If your anime’s protagonist falls under this category, it’s very easy for me to watch your show. This is most likely why I favor anime over other shows, since this archetype seems to be pretty rare for main characters in western shows. The only character I can think of that fits in this vein is Sherlock from BBC's adaptation of Sherlock Holmes.

   My favorites from the above are Hikigaya Hachiman, Ayanokouji Kiyotaka, and Koyomi Araragi. Shoutout to @Muco for suggesting Classroom of the Elite to me; it was an extremely enjoyable show.

   

   

   

   Bonus points if your character has angry/bored eyes.

   On the other hand, I find it very hard to watch shows with timid main characters. For example, I still haven’t finished Neon Genesis Evangelion or Future Diary, and it was hard for me to watch two seasons of My Hero Academia. I find it fine when the main character develops, such as in Parasyte: the maxim, but even then, these characters are hard to stomach.

   

   Now, I need to clarify: I am not attacking you if you like these types of character. I don’t think that these characters are bad writing, either. Characters that go from zero to hero are satisfying to watch and easy to write and develop.

   

   My liking of "literally me" characters is just that: a preference. What about you? What do you like in an anime’s main character?

   Do you like the hothead, like Asta from Black Clover? This type of character is pretty common in shounen, like Naruto Uzumaki and Shoyo Hinata.

   

   Or do you like the bantering type, like Fuutarou Uesugi from Quintessential Quintuplets? This is a fun archetype, more common in comedy anime, but also exists in shows like Clannad.

   

   Maybe you prefer the vengeful type, like Tanya Degurechaff from Youjo Senki.

   

   There's also the A-hole characters, like Jotaro Kujo from Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: Stardust Crusaders.

   

   Another character could be the silent and/or mysterious type, like Afro Samurai's main character.

   

   Or maybe you have a complete opposite opinion of me, and like timid main characters, like Deku from My Hero Academia.

   

   Let me know! I love hearing about what other people think. If you feel like it, you should even tell me what main characters you like and why you like them.
   

   Thanks for reading!

   • Read more...
   • 1 comment

Community Anime Reviews